Backing for variable tuition fees

Monday 2 January 2006 00:09 BST

Education Secretary Alan Johnson has backed new rules that will allow market forces to decide how much university students must pay in tuition fees.

He agreed that colleges should be able to offer discounts to get people enrolled on unpopular courses such as physics, despite claims from critics that this could lead to a 'two-tier' system, one for the rich and another for the poor.

"I respect the ability of universities to do what they think is right," he told The Times in an interview.

"What we would like to see is a market that says some courses cost nothing and some cost the £3,000 limit." The Education Secretary was speaking as new rules allowing variations in tuition fees officially come into force.

Many universities are imposing a blanket charge of £3,000 a year - the highest amount possible - but others have been more innovative in an effort to fill places.

Coventry University has reduced fees to £2,000 annually for students with A-level grades of ABB or above, while De Montfort in Leicester is providing scholarships worth £1,000 each for students achieving at least BBC.

Mr Johnson described the introduction of tuition fees as "an extraordinary act of political courage" on the part of the Labour Government.

The National Union of Students has expressed fears that the level of fees was already putting many poorer students off, and says the problem is likely to get worse now their debt will be even higher when they finish courses.

It believes students will end up choosing courses based on their "bank balance rather than their brains".

But the minister insisted that the latest figures for applications, which showed the percentage from working class students had risen slightly from 30.4% to 30.7% this year, proved such concerns were unfounded.